New year, same old train strikes so the first pod of 2023 is another Zoom one, unfortunately. Telecoms.com Deputy Editor Andrew Wooden joins to offer an overview of the major themes from the Consumer Electronics Show. They move on to a couple of Qualcomm announcements from the show before concluding with a look at a major European Open RAN development.

We’re delighted to welcome back special guest Elena Davidson, CEO of Liberty Comms, who had the cunning plan of devising a telecoms quiz to see if Iain and Scott are any good at their jobs. They had to do this one 2020-style, over Zoom, because the trains are on strike, but hopefully it’s still a good listen. See you in the new year!

The team finally manages to get a pod out for the first time in three weeks, which may also be the last of the year thanks to train strikes. Thankfully they are delighted to welcome special guest Phil Siveter, CEO for Nokia UK and Ireland and they start by picking his brains about some of the various technological trends his company has a stake in. The big news story of the week was Vodafone losing its group CEO, so they move on to speculate about who could replace him, before Scott concludes by moaning about the erosion of his digital civil liberties.

No guests this week as the lads record the pod a day early to make time for a big Friday lunch. They start by reviewing Vodafone’s latest quarterly numbers, which seemed to reflect the general economic gloom. Eventually they move on to one of Scott’s pet peeves, state censorship of online speech, before recklessly lurching into the high drama afflicting the cryptocurrency sector right now.

The pod is delighted to welcome back special guest Neil McRae, the departing Chief Architect at BT. They start by asking him why he’s clearing off and what, if anything, that says about BT’s technology strategy. Moving on to recent news, the three of them reflect on the carnage in the big tech jobs market, before concluding with a quickfire question round designed especially for McRae.

The lads return to the studio after their jaunt to Amsterdam but reflect on another trip Iain took since then to Madrid for the Fyuz event. The main topic there was Open RAN so they start by going over what was discussed and what that says about the current state of play with that technology. Quarterly earnings season seemed to offer clues about how things are going with both the metaverse and the public cloud market so they conclude by meandering around those topics. Stay up to date with the most important telecoms stories from around the world with the Telecoms.com daily newsletter. Delivered FREE and direct to your inbox every day: ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO

This special edition of the pod it brought to you from the Network X telecoms show in Amsterdam. Scott and Iain are first joined by Ronan De Renesse of analyst firm Omdia. They review some of the chat at the show concerning IoT, 5G and 6G, as well as a number of ad hoc tangents. Ronan then makes way for Telecoms.com’s Andrew Wooden, who talks us through the main keynote speeches and discussions from the event, focusing mainly on managing change and security. Stay up to date with the most important telecoms stories from around the world with the Telecoms.com daily newsletter. Delivered FREE and direct to your inbox every day: ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO

Just the two of us this week, with Scott just about recovered from Deputy Editor Andrew Wooden’s stag weekend. They start by reviewing a reshuffle among BT’s top technology team, which features the departure of a former podcast guest. Iain wrote an analysis of the collateral damage from America’s chip war on China, so they dig into that, before concluding with a look at the latest developments in the ‘fair contribution’ debate. Stay up to date with the most important telecoms stories from around the world with the Telecoms.com daily newsletter. Delivered FREE and direct to your inbox every day: ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO

We’re delighted to welcome special guest Gabriel Brown to the pod this week. He is an analyst at Heavy Reading, specialising in mobile infrastructure, so the guys take the opportunity to pick his brains about the latest developments in 5G. They move on to dissect the big news story of the week – the potential merger of UK mobile operators Vodafone and Three – before finishing with a quick recap of Iain’s recent trip to France with Orange. Stay up to date with the most important telecoms stories from around the world with the Telecoms.com daily newsletter. Delivered FREE and direct to your inbox every day: ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO

The pod is blessed by no less than two special guests this week. First we chat to Analyst James Crawshaw from Omdia about the recent Digital Transformation Event they all attended in Copenhagen and reflect on the eponymous topic as well as whatever larks were had on tour. James then makes way for Paula Gilbert who edits the Connecting Africa site. She and the guys discuss the latest telecoms developments in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent. Stay up to date with the most important telecoms stories from around the world with the Telecoms.com daily newsletter. Delivered FREE and direct to your inbox every day: http://ow.ly/XPA150KWZmO